Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians. All credit goes to Rick Riordan.

Summary: Love is a little thing, but it drives us to do great things.

SILENA BEAUREGARD

Like our mother, the children of Aphrodite are beautiful, but occasionally lacking in common sense. We mean well, but we do not always follow an idea through to its logical conclusion.

That is the domain of the Athena children, and for our love, we don't try to intrude on it.

Aphrodite is the goddess of Love and Beauty, and her children reflect that. We care a lot about our looks, but our main focus is on love. Love for our siblings, our friends, and our fellow campers. Romantic love is important, obviously, but Aphrodite is about being loving, in all forms.

The Hermes Cabin was shattered when Luke betrayed the camp, and especially them, but there were some who believed that it had to be part of a bigger plan, that he couldn't have turned evil. Because I loved them and wanted them to be right, I agreed to hear Luke out when he found me and asked for my help.

Luke told me that fewer people would die, and that Camp Half-Blood, filled with those that I loved, would be safe. All I had to do was tell him about any big plans so that he could minimalize the damage.

I liked Luke, and wanted to believe that he hadn't really joined Kronos, so I agreed.

They say that the Road to Hell is paved with good intentions, and they are right. No-one noticed another charm on my silver bracelet, and I passed on a few small bits of information, until I realized that Luke was only 'minimalizing the damage' to Kronos's army, while campers, including his own cabin-mates, were getting hurt or killed.

I confronted him, telling him that I was done with helping him, and Luke threatened to reveal my role. My fatal flaw is that I want to make people happy and to be loved; I couldn't bear the anger and disappointment if my family and friends found out. To my shame, I backed down.

When I fell in love with Charlie, I knew that I couldn't keep it up. For the first time, I wanted to be worthy of someone's love, rather than just have them fall for me. But before I could tell Chiron and beg for his help, a message came that Luke was planning to get into Camp through the Labyrinth, and there was no time.

After the battle, I looked at the pain and grief that shrouded the Camp, and I was more determined than ever to break free.

What did my shame matter, when so many of us lay dead? Mr D, who acted like he didn't care about any of us, was mourning the death of a son, and no-one was unaffected. I wept for Jordan, my half-brother, and tried to comfort the rest of my siblings. I couldn't promise them that everything was all right, but I knew that he had died to defend those he loved, and the best thing we could do was honour his memory.

I talked about love giving people strength to do what was right, and I felt like the world's biggest hypocrite.

What had happened to the strong Head Councillor who had gone out of her way to be nice if someone had a bad day, who had once led a charge against the Hunters of Artemis because they said that love was worthless? When had I become so weak that I was willing to abandon those I loved to their death?

But Kronos was reborn by then, made stronger by Luke and the hundreds that supported him. More than strong enough to force my compliance, and I could only rail inside my head – at him, at Luke, at myself – as the Titan King forced everything I knew from me.

I fought back against his control enough to tell Charlie everything when we started dating, but he didn't turn me in. He quietly suggested to Mr D and Chiron that plans should be kept strictly between those who were going on the mission, and promised that we would find a way to make Kronos let me go.

I tried so hard not to know anything about the missions Charlie went on, and it nearly worked, until Chiron called all of the Head Councillors to talk about the mission to blow up the Princess Andromeda.

Before he left, Charlie said that it would be all right. They would blow up the ship, and even if Kronos didn't die, he would do his best to get the bracelet that Kronos carried. I kissed him, and gave him a picture of us on our last date… and never saw him alive again.

When the call came from Percy, summoning us to New York, I left my cabin for the first time since we burned Charlie's shroud.

Kronos was strong, but the Gods had beaten him before. My Charmspeak would get me past the Doorman in the Empire State Building, and my mother was a lot stronger than she usually let on. For Charlie, the son of Posidon would back me up when I begged for divine help.

But the Gods were absent, and we were the last line of defence against Kronos and his approaching army. Kronos forced the battle plans from me, and I knew that I had to do something.

I couldn't tell what I didn't know, and soon Kronos would be too busy to give detailed orders. As soon as I could, I went back to camp to talk to Clarisse. Kronos could order me back, but I promised myself on the River Styx that I would not return without reinforcements, to help those I had betrayed.

Clarisse wouldn't listen, no matter what I said or did.

I pointed out that no one took the Aphrodite cabin seriously, either, but we were still fighting. I compared the situation to the Trojan War, a battle that would devastate and change the world as we knew it. The rest of the Ares campers wanted to go, but Clarisse stood firm. "My Cabin has been disrespected for the last time," she told me. "Achilles was the greatest warrior who ever lived, but even he sat out the fight when Agamemnon offered him too great an insult. Sorry, but no."

She left for patrol, and my mind raced for anything else I could do to make her see reason.

Achilles…

Achilles sat out the War, until his cousin stole his armor and took his place. Clarisse and I were the same height, if not the same build, and Clarisse's helmet would cover most of my face.

Ares and Aphrodite were lovers, and Clarisse and I had become good friends, so that made me close enough to be Patroclus to her Achilles, right?

I walked toward the stables, shoulders slumped as if I was leaving in defeat, but instead of saddling my Pegasus, I readied Clarisse's chariot. Most of her siblings were training, so it was easy for me to sneak back and steal her armor, tucking my darker hair under the helmet and concealing my features as best I could.

I spoke as little as possible as I ordered the other campers to ready themselves for battle, using just enough Charmspeak to make them ignore the differences in my build and voice.

As I led the fight against the Drakon, my voice roared, "For Ares!"

My mind sang defiance against Kronos, "For Redemption."

My heart dried its tears, whispering, "For Love."

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A/N: This one has been bouncing around in my head for a while, so I finally just sat down and wrote. I think that there was no way that Silena would have turned spy without a good reason, and no way that she could have continued spying after Beckendorf was killed, so this is my explanation. I welcome other viewpoints.

Thanks,

Nat